That Blue Gibson: Another Round

thirty-one

"Thought maybe you were drinking yourself into oblivion in there and I... um..." his ability to string words together had gone, lost when he noticed she had changed out of the leggings and hoodie she'd worn on the plane.

He dragged his eyes up from her stilettos to a long sleeved, low cut, black lace bodysuit that he was sure would be a pain in the ass to take off of her and wondered how upset she would be if he just started at the top and ripped his way to the bottom.

The ice in her glass clinked when she took a sip, her eyes fixed on his face as she read his reaction. But he must not have looked the way he felt, because she reached back into the closet, retrieved the bottle of whiskey and handed it to him. "Here. Start drinking and don't stop until I'm blurry enough to be hot."

The facetiousness was there, somewhat masking the bitterness underneath though not well enough that he could ignore it. The bottle in his hand was allowed to fall to the carpet and the slosh of the expensive booze blended with her gasp as he pushed her against the wall.

They were clumsy and awkward, teeth clashing and lips never quite meeting in the middle, fumbling at each other until Dave decided he'd had enough. He held her still with a hand against the curve of her neck and kissed the same spot on the opposite side, but where he expected her to melt against him, she stiffened instead.

"Dave?"

Resting his forehead on her shoulder, the terrifying notion that they had become strangers knit itself into his mind, "Yeah?"

"Does this... feel...?"

Pulling back to look at her, he wanted to say so much. He wanted to explain that he hated how everything between them now felt so forced, that he still loved her so fucking much and that he was scared to death they were falling apart.

But she stared back at him, reading everything in his eyes and beating him to the punch, "I'm gonna get dressed."

Despite the sinking feeling in his chest, he gave a low groan when he saw the back of her outfit was just as revealing as the front and slid his back down the wall to sit and watch her.

She pulled on a black high waisted skirt that hit her mid-thigh and gave an almost hypnotic swish as she walked, leaving the lace bodysuit as a sort of top, though it revealed everything from the nip of her waist to the scar on her shoulder.

"Do you have a somewhere you'd like to go?" she asked as she slipped on some bracelets, "Like a bar or are you hungry?"

"We can get something to eat at The Ivy and then go to Crobar."

"Great," she smiled down at him, a genuinely excited smile and bent to kiss his cheek as she left the closet.

He dug through his bag, managing to find some black jeans, a white shirt and his black suit jacket in decent shape thanks to Liz's careful packing and quickly changed before calling the restaurant.

The Ivy was more than accommodating, especially when he confirmed that Liz would be with him. While the news of the twin's arrival had hit the media, a photo of Liz post-birth hadn't and he was idly wondering how much would be spent on such a thing when she met him in the sitting room. Her hair was freshly curled and her makeup was a bit darker and sexier, but she was still only wearing the heels, skirt and sheer top.

"Is that what you're wearing?"

"Yeah, why?" she seemed genuinely curious as she transferred her things from her big leather bag to a small beaded clutch.

"Be... cause... ?" he waved his hand at her, worried he'd piss her off by asking her to cover up, but aside from all the attention it would cause he just didn't want anyone else looking at her the way he did.